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Looks like Lil Bro is expanding FB stadium

dorkmeister

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Oct 25, 2006
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They just approved 2.2 Billion funding and 55 million is for the FB stadium expansion. Rumor is they will surpass Commonwealth in size when it is finished.

While we decreased the size of our stadium they are opting to increase theirs. Where do they get all the money? Why are tax payers, who end up footing the bill for the poor financial choices of ul not riot?

This is just another example of Jurrich and ul trying to act big and sticking the tax payers with the bill just like they did with yum center.
 
They just approved 2.2 Billion funding and 55 million is for the FB stadium expansion. Rumor is they will surpass Commonwealth in size when it is finished.

While we decreased the size of our stadium they are opting to increase theirs. Where do they get all the money? Why are tax payers, who end up footing the bill for the poor financial choices of ul not riot?

This is just another example of Jurrich and ul trying to act big and sticking the tax payers with the bill just like they did with yum center.
Honestly, is there really a need for them to increase the size of their stadium? Raise your hand if you work in Louisville and have NOT been offered hugely discounted tickets for purchase as a "special offer" from UofL? At Kindred Healthcare, we would get offers for essentially the entire season except a game or 2 for what would be the equivalent of $10 per game. I know they still did it last season as well.

UK could have expanded the stadium to 90k, but what good is it if you end up having to essentially give away thousands of tickets in order to make the place look remotely full other than for the possibly 1 or 2 huge games during the season?
 
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Honestly, is there really a need for them to increase the size of their stadium? Raise your hand if you work in Louisville and have NOT been offered hugely discounted tickets for purchase as a "special offer" from UofL? At Kindred Healthcare, we would get offers for essentially the entire season except a game or 2 for what would be the equivalent of $10 per game. I know they still did it last season as well.

UK could have expanded the stadium for 90k, but what good is it if you end up having to essentially give away thousands of tickets in order to make the place look remotely full other than for the possibly 1 or 2 huge games during the season?


They can barely will it now at 56,000. And no matter what they will tell you unless it is Florida State or Clemson in town you can turn on any game and see seats all over the stadium empty.
 
Honestly, is there really a need for them to increase the size of their stadium? Raise your hand if you work in Louisville and have NOT been offered hugely discounted tickets for purchase as a "special offer" from UofL? At Kindred Healthcare, we would get offers for essentially the entire season except a game or 2 for what would be the equivalent of $10 per game. I know they still did it last season as well.

UK could have expanded the stadium to 90k, but what good is it if you end up having to essentially give away thousands of tickets in order to make the place look remotely full other than for the possibly 1 or 2 huge games during the season?

Doubt UofL will have a huge expansion but more of a Upgrade in the Fan Experience...myself would hope it is expanded no further then 62K but would want better Wifi, more concessions, even a better Jumbotron. Apparently it going to be more inline with the look of a CenturyLink Field. Last year according to the NCAA Louisville averaged 52,972 Per Game...Your Wildcats averaged 57,572 Per Game...Overall though College Football Attendence Nation Wide is down because really it is almost better to watch at home on your Big Screen HD...in other words I want Papa John's if expanding/renovating to become the most digitize stadium in College Athletics...if it has the outward look of CenturyLink Stadium I want it to have the WiFi Access like Levi Stadium the Home of the 49ers.
 
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UL has no reason to add to capacity...NONE...make the pink chairs red? Go for it...add thousands of seats? Will not be filled...they struggled to get fans in the stands for a Teddy Bridgewater senior day type game against Memphis with a 10-1 record. (Final score 24-17)
 
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I'd be shocked if any of this money is used to increase capacity. They can't fill their current stadium.
 
Bragging rights. They'll go bigger than us just to say they have a bigger stadium
 
UL has no reason to add to capacity...NONE...make the pink chairs red? Go for it...add thousands of seats? Will not be filled...they struggled to get fans in the stands for a Teddy Bridgewater senior day type game against Memphis with a 10-1 record. (Final score 24-17)

Thing is Louisville no longer plays Memphis who brings NOBODY and no longer plays in the C-USA/American/BIG EAST...every year either a Florida State or Clemson comes to town along with NC State that also travels...plus Notre Dame is coming to Papa John's on 2 September 2019 due to the ND/ACC Scheduling agreement.
 
Doubt UofL will have a huge expansion but more of a Upgrade in the Fan Experience...myself would hope it is expanded no further then 62K but would want better Wifi, more concessions, even a better Jumbotron. Apparently it going to be more inline with the look of a CenturyLink Field. Last year according to the NCAA Louisville averaged 52,972 Per Game...Your Wildcats averaged 57,572 Per Game...Overall though College Football Attendence Nation Wide is down because really it is almost better to watch at home on your Big Screen HD...in other words I want Papa John's if expanding/renovating to become the most digitize stadium in College Athletics...if it has the outward look of CenturyLink Stadium I want it to have the WiFi Access like Levi Stadium the Home of the 49ers.
The problem with those attendance numbers is that it doesn't adequately reflect the number of "sold" tickets that were either given away by the Universities or were sold at an enormous reduction in price. UK has started to do this and I know UofL has been doing it for years.

Honestly, one major reason why UofL doesn't need to expand beyond what's been stated is that they don't face many programs in the ACC that will travel fans in droves like what we see in the SEC. It's helped to subsidize UK's attendance figures over the years when the team hasn't been good and it guarantees a packed stadium when UK is competitive.
 
They, with the help of Jim Host, ripped off Louisville taxpayers with the Yum Center. The windfall from that is pretty great.
 
The problem with those attendance numbers is that it doesn't adequately reflect the number of "sold" tickets that were either given away by the Universities or were sold at an enormous reduction in price. UK has started to do this and I know UofL has been doing it for years.

Honestly, one major reason why UofL doesn't need to expand beyond what's been stated is that they don't face many programs in the ACC that will travel fans in droves like what we see in the SEC. It's helped to subsidize UK's attendance figures over the years when the team hasn't been good and it guarantees a packed stadium when UK is competitive.

It is 55K now....would be stunned if it is no larger then 62K...what they should be looking for IMO is the improved in game experience and go more inline with what Levi Stadium in the Bay Area has done with their WiFi...if I am not mistaken you guys are doing this with CWS...people are not really going to games Nation Wide because it is much more comfortable to watch at home.

You're also correct...A LOT of Universities are giving reduced Tickets...even Michigan has done it the past few years.
 
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They see what UK is doing and feel they have to invest to keep up. They have claimed for years that they have better facilities in every athletic venue than UK and now THENEWCWS will pass up the pizza pit and they are worried. It is the Little Brother syndrome.
 
Thing is Louisville no longer plays Memphis who brings NOBODY and no longer plays in the C-USA/American/BIG EAST...every year either a Florida State or Clemson comes to town along with NC State that also travels...plus Notre Dame is coming to Papa John's on 2 September 2019 due to the ND/ACC Scheduling agreement.

The attendance for the NC ST UL game was 50500.

There is no argument to expand PJCS...if you have to hope to rely on other schools fans to fill it, you're doing it wrong.

There would be no reason for CWS to expand either...

I hope PJCS does expand though, because images of empty seats are fun fuel.
 
The attendance for the NC ST UL game was 50500.

There is no argument to expand PJCS...if you have to hope to rely on other schools fans to fill it, you're doing it wrong.

There would be no reason for CWS to expand either...

I hope PJCS does expand though, because images of empty seats are fun fuel.

Have no real issue with Renovation-(heard the same argument when they expanded from 42K to 55K they couldn't fill it now they got a average of over 52K).

My main hope is Stadium Comfort...like said earlier better WiFi, a Better and more Concessions and Restrooms. Plus with being in the ACC and if they do smart expansion maybe better OOC Opponents. Again ND at Papa John's in 2019 and either Clemson/Florida State every other year...it will also put Louisville more inline with Capacity of other P5 Schools even in the ACC...much closer to UNC/NC State Capacity which is both slightly over 60K..the Big XII Oklahoma State Capacity is also 60K yet they average slightly over 54K..btw, they don't sell out either...both of those ACC Schools and the Big XII school again average slightly over last year 54K last year...Louisville was over 52K and slightly under 53K.
 
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The problem with those attendance numbers is that it doesn't adequately reflect the number of "sold" tickets that were either given away by the Universities or were sold at an enormous reduction in price. UK has started to do this and I know UofL has been doing it for years.

Honestly, one major reason why UofL doesn't need to expand beyond what's been stated is that they don't face many programs in the ACC that will travel fans in droves like what we see in the SEC. It's helped to subsidize UK's attendance figures over the years when the team hasn't been good and it guarantees a packed stadium when UK is competitive.

Not a hugest thing, but going to a UofL game is much more the pro sports model ... you get them in the door, even if its with free tickets, and then you soak them with beer/liquor charges.

I easily spent over $100 on beer alone at the game last November at PJCS. At least $10 worth of that was for other people. :sunglasses: That's a infinity times more than I spent inside the gates at Commonwealth last year all season, which was a grand total of $0. Hence you seeing a big part of the Commonwealth Stadium expansion focused on expanding beer/liquor sales.
 
The two highest attended games in PJCS history were both recorded last year with Miami (55,428) and Florida State (55,414). The upgrade in schedule will help keep PJCS closer to capacity on average moving forward. Regardless of whatever else may be thought of Tom Jurich here, I don't think anyone thinks he is not a smart business man. He will make, with whatever expansion/upgrading plans are decided upon, sound business decisions that will improve the bottom line of PJCS, while enhancing the fan experience. He is on record as saying, " If we do expand, we want to make sure it’s not just a bunch of extra seats.”

http://uoflcardgame.com/jurich-wants-expand-pjcs-due-diligence-will-dictate-decision/46351/
 
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The two highest attended games in PJCS history were both recorded last year with Miami (55,428) and Florida State (55,414). The upgrade in schedule will help keep PJCS closer to capacity on average moving forward. Regardless of whatever else may be thought of Tom Jurich here, I don't think anyone thinks he is not a smart business man. He will make, with whatever expansion/upgrading plans are decided upon, sound business decisions that will improve the bottom line of PJCS, while enhancing the fan experience. He is on record as saying, " If we do expand, we want to make sure it’s not just a bunch of extra seats.”

http://uoflcardgame.com/jurich-wants-expand-pjcs-due-diligence-will-dictate-decision/46351/

Well said....just part of the P5 Football Arms Race...that last statement is my wish...and again Capacity wise UofL will be even more inline with ACC Stadium Capacity even though they are already in the Upper Half of ACC Attendence.
 
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They see what UK is doing and feel they have to invest to keep up. They have claimed for years that they have better facilities in every athletic venue than UK and now THENEWCWS will pass up the pizza pit and they are worried. It is the Little Brother syndrome.
You have this backwards. After visiting the Yum Center and seeing the revenue UofL was receiving from their FB suite, uk then explored a new BB arena and decided to renovate CWS.
 
well i could still get $12 tickets through work to pjcs for the inaugural acc year.
 
Not a hugest thing, but going to a UofL game is much more the pro sports model ... you get them in the door, even if its with free tickets, and then you soak them with beer/liquor charges.

I easily spent over $100 on beer alone at the game last November at PJCS. At least $10 worth of that was for other people. :sunglasses: That's a infinity times more than I spent inside the gates at Commonwealth last year all season, which was a grand total of $0. Hence you seeing a big part of the Commonwealth Stadium expansion focused on expanding beer/liquor sales.

Is CWS going to start selling alcohol?
 
Don't be surprised when more and more P5 Schools start selling Beer at Games....right now the P5 Schools that sell Beer to people over 21 in the Stands are Louisville, Miami, Syracuse, Minnesota and West Virginia.
 
Like or dislike Tom Jurich he runs circles around Mitch when it comes to building his schools 'brand'.....Mitch always seems to be in react mode...and if you dont like my take on it 'I don't care'......so blast away
 
Like or dislike Tom Jurich he runs circles around Mitch when it comes to building his schools 'brand'.....Mitch always seems to be in react mode...and if you dont like my take on it 'I don't care'......so blast away
wrong - wrong - wrong
Has nothing to do with Brand - has to do with CONTROL for JURK.......and I'm quite certain UK Brand does not need "Building" - as the school athletics are nationally known more so than UofSmell.....the brand Mitch has started to build IS UK Football and has started the process appropriately however belated. It is not as easy to "build" your football brand having been a celler feller forever in the SEC as it is to win Conference USA and then getting to go to a conference and reap their benefits such as ACC has done for the UofSmell football program.

Now will they remain a top football BRAND when they have been there for a decade? That remains to be seen - I believe not.....but I am intelligent enough to realize UK football needs to be built and Mitch has tried and is trying.....he has kicked A%$ in every sport and playing catch up in football.....and if Stoops can't do this.....Then it truly probably just cannot be done...

But JURK is not building a brand - he is striking while the fire is hot - because that fire may not be there in a few years.
 
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I don't care one way or the other whether we expand PJCS or not but so long as it pissed you guys off then I'm for it. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!
 
The second the shovel hits dirt and they've committed the funds is the perfect time to announce we're pulling out of the series. Get someone else to fill it.
 
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The second the shovel hits dirt and they've committed the funds is the perfect time to announce we're pulling out of the series. Get someone else to fill it.

You realize the series is basically a SEC/ACC Controlled thing now...that is why it got moved to the last weekend...to go with the Florida State-Florida, South Carolina-Clemson, Georgia-Georgia Tech and now Louisville-Kentucky ACC/SEC Rivalry Week with ESPN...Plus Louisville has Clemson in 2015, 2017 etc...etc...coming to town, Florida State coming to Papa John's in 2016, 2018 etc..etc...going forward and Notre Dame Coming to Papa John's in 2019....
 
wrong - wrong - wrong
Has nothing to do with Brand - has to do with CONTROL for JURK.......and I'm quite certain UK Brand does not need "Building" - as the school athletics are nationally known more so than UofSmell.....the brand Mitch has started to build IS UK Football and has started the process appropriately however belated. It is not as easy to "build" your football brand having been a celler feller forever in the SEC as it is to win Conference USA and then getting to go to a conference and reap their benefits such as ACC has done for the UofSmell football program.

Now will they remain a top football BRAND when they have been there for a decade? That remains to be seen - I believe not.....but I am intelligent enough to realize UK football needs to be built and Mitch has tried and is trying.....he has kicked A%$ in every sport and playing catch up in football.....and if Stoops can't do this.....Then it truly probably just cannot be done...

But JURK is not building a brand - he is striking while the fire is hot - because that fire may not be there in a few years.
One question, did you ever visit UofL's campus before 1997? Thanks to Jurich, they have built brand new sports facilities for every sport. Papa Johns was already under construction when he became AD and has been upgraded once since it opened in the late 90's. The Schnellenberger complex while still very nice is in need of expansion and updates. As far as the stadium, the talk is that the north endzone will be closed in and will include suites as well.
 
Barney an idiot for lowering capacity by so much. No other explanation. AD of the year?!!! Ha!!
 
Whether you agree with the expansion or not, UofL's administration realizes that stadium size is a great source of fan pride (well maybe not in this state, but at every other SEC school it is), and says A LOT about your football program. If it wasn't, you all wouldn't be on here getting worked up about the prospect of UofL passing us up in stadium size.

The fact of the matter is we never, I repeat, NEVER, should have shrunk our stadium to begin with.

We were sold a bill of goods as the reason for shrinking the stadium, and as usual with all-things from the UK PR machine, we bought it hook, line, and sinker, and asked for seconds.

Whether they can fill their expanded stadium is beside the point. The point is that they are continuing to place MUCH, MUCH more of an emphasis on all things football, and you're kidding yourself if you don't think they've passed us up in the area.

The sad thing is that while we're sitting back watching them pass us up, we make these silly arguments like, 'well stadium size doesn't matter', 'well they'll never be able to fill up that big stadium', 'well Bobby Petrino isn't as good of a coach as they say', 'well the ACC isn't that big of an upgrade over the Big East', 'well at least our players are nice guys'.

Come on man. Sometimes you have to call a spade a spade. Ignoring the problem isn't going to help our program; change at the top will.

Instead of directing our anger where it belongs (namely Mitch Barnhart and an athletics department which has neglected this football program for years) we're directing it at the program who is passing us up.

While our athletics department is worrying about where to next fork over our millions in football revenues, their athletics department is worrying about:

1. hiring the BEST possible football coach (regardless of character issues) they can get (like every other SEC school),

2. getting the best athletes they can get, despite character issues (like every other SEC school),

3. having the largest/best football stadium in the state, with the best football fan-experience (like every SEC school)

4. and making sure they always one-up us in the area of football (like every SEC school).

I'm afraid as long as Mitch Barnhart is our athletics director, this is what we'll get.

As a UK fan I'm embarrassed that a school like Louisville, with half of the fanbase, tradition, resources, boosters, advantages, etc, has passed us so greatly in the area of football. I'm mad about it honestly. There is absolutely no reason that a school that was in Conference USA a few years ago for crying out loud, should be ahead of us.

Do me a favor. Go back and look at what has happened to the nation's most popular sport at UK and UofL since the arrival of Mitch Barnhart.

One program has GREATLY improved their football program and all-things football-related, while the other has decreased attendance, decreased stadium-size, decreased winning, and decreased national perception.

Those are the facts. They hurt me to say as much as anyone, but I'm mad about the neglect of the nation's most popular sport and the biggest revenue earner by Mitch Barnhart.

If you're not mad about it and how Louisville has passed us up than you need to be.

Here's the difference between us and Louisville.

Both schools put in a 10-out-of-10 effort on the sport of basketball. But Louisville puts in an 8-out-of-10 effort in the sport of football, while our athletics department puts in a half-hearted, 5-out-of-10 effort. That 5-out-of-10 is mainly just doing the bare minimum that they can get by with to make the appearance that they care about football and avoid the complete boycott that we witnessed at the end of the Joker era.

Are we finally making a $110 million 'renovation'? Yes. Guess how much Texas A&M is investing in their stadium renovation: $450 million. That's a middle-of-the-pack SEC team you're talking about investing over four-times as much as us.

Do we honestly expect to beat teams like that when we're investing less than a quarter of what they are in something as important as facilities? I mean seriously, come on man. We have to stop lying to ourselves and direct our anger where it belongs.

You might be able to get by with that when you're investing in basketball and softball, but you're not going to get by with a half-hearted effort when you're dealing with the arms-race that is college (and more specifically, SEC) football.

If what I'm saying makes you mad, it should. We've been neglected in the sport of football for far too long, and I'm mad about it. If you care truly about the most important sport at the university, you should be too.

I'm afraid that if Mitch Barnhart is here 10 years from now (or even sooner) we're going to be having this exact same conversation about Western Kentucky passing us up. If you think that's a silly thought, go back and look at where the UofL football program was at a couple decades ago, and come back and tell me how silly it is.
 
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Whether you agree with the expansion or not, UofL's administration realizes that stadium size is a great source of fan pride (well maybe not in this state, but at every other SEC school it is), and says A LOT about your football program. If it wasn't, you all wouldn't be on here getting worked up about the prospect of UofL passing us up in stadium size.

The fact of the matter is we never, I repeat, NEVER, should have shrunk our stadium to begin with.

We were sold a bill of goods as the reason for shrinking the stadium, and as usual with all-things from the UK PR machine, we bought it hook, line, and sinker, and asked for seconds.

Whether they can fill their expanded stadium is beside the point. The point is that they are continuing to place MUCH, MUCH more of an emphasis on all things football, and you're kidding yourself if you don't think they've passed us up in the area. The sad thing is that while we're sitting back watching them pass us up, we make these silly arguments like 'well stadium size doesn't matter', 'well they'll never be able to fill up that big stadium', 'well Bobby Petrino isn't as good of a coach as they say', 'well the ACC isn't that big of an upgrade over the Big East'. Come on man. Sometimes you have to call a spade a spade. Ignoring the problem isn't going to help our program. Change at the top will.

Instead of directing our anger where it belongs (namely Mitch Barnhart and athletic department which has neglected this football program for years) we are directing it at the program who is passing us up.

While our athletic department is worrying about where to next fork over our millions in football revenues, their athletics department is worrying about:

1. hiring the BEST possible football coach (regardless of character issues) they can get (like every other SEC school),

2. getting the best athletes they can get, despite character issues (like every other SEC school),

3. having the largest/best football stadium in the state, with the best football fan-experience (like every SEC school)

4. and making sure they always one-up us in the area of football (like every SEC school).

I'm afraid as long as Mitch Barnhart is our athletics director, this is what we'll get.

As a UK fan I'm embarrassed that a school like Louisville, with half of the fanbase, tradition, resources, boosters, advantages, etc, has passed us so greatly in the area of football. I'm mad about it honestly. There is absolutely no reason that a school that was in Conference USA a few years ago for crying out loud, should be ahead of us.

Do me a favor. Go back and look at what has happened to the nation's most popular sport at UK and UofL since the arrival of Mitch Barnhart.

One program has GREATLY improved their football program and all-things football-related, while the other has decreased attendance, decreased stadium-size, decreased winning, and decreased national perception.

Those are the facts. They hurt me to say as much as anyone, but I'm mad about the neglect of the nation's most popular sport and the biggest revenue earner by Mitch Barnhart.

If you're not mad about it and how Louisville has passed us up than you need to be.

Here's the difference between us and Louisville.

Both schools put in a 10 out of 10 effort on the sport of basketball, but Louisville puts in an 8 out of 10 effort in the sport of football, while our athletics department puts in a half-hearted, 5 out of 10 effort. That 5 out of 10 is mainly just doing the bare minimum that they can get by with to make the appearance that they care about football and avoid the complete boycott that we witnessed at the end of the Joker tenure.

Are we finally making a $110 million 'renovation'? Yes. Guess how much Texas A&M is investing in their stadium renovation? $450 million. That's a middle-of-the-pack SEC team you're talking about investing over four-times as much as us. Do we honestly expect to beat teams like that when we're investing a quarter of what they are? I mean seriously, come on man. We have to stop lying to ourselves and direct our anger where it belongs.

You might be able to get by with that when you're investing in basketball and softball, but you're not going to get by with a half-hearted effort when you're dealing with the arms race that is college (and more specifically, SEC) football. If what I'm saying makes you mad, it should. We've been neglected in the sport of football for far too long, and I'm mad about it.

If you care truly about the most important sport at the university, you should be too. I'm afraid that if Mitch Barnhart is here 10 years from now (or even sooner) we're going to be having this exact same conversation about Western Kentucky passing us up. If you think that's a silly thought, go back and look at the rise of the UofL football program, and come back and tell me how silly it is.
this would of been awesome post jokers last year here but is wayyyy behind on the new reality. yes they are doing simply as a bragging rights issue but we all agree... even ul fans.... that outside of 2 game/year this stadium will never be full. our new buildings and facilities are top notch... better than ul's.

and yes ul will take on more character flawed individuals than we do but i see that coming back to bite them sooner than later. you can't bring in that many character issues without having issues. i want to win as bad as anyone but i wouldn't of wanted dyer, willie, fields, woodard, or council. i also wouldn't want our campus police to turn a blind eye to criminal activity. eventually something will give... it always does.
 
this would of been awesome post jokers last year here but is wayyyy behind on the new reality. yes they are doing simply as a bragging rights issue but we all agree... even ul fans.... that outside of 2 game/year this stadium will never be full. our new buildings and facilities are top notch... better than ul's.

and yes ul will take on more character flawed individuals than we do but i see that coming back to bite them sooner than later. you can't bring in that many character issues without having issues. i want to win as bad as anyone but i wouldn't of wanted dyer, willie, fields, woodard, or council. i also wouldn't want our campus police to turn a blind eye to criminal activity. eventually something will give... it always does.

1. Not about Bragging Rights...it is the reality of P5 College Football...any Expansion/Renovation done is about keeping up in the current Arms Race and everyone in a P5 league now has a lot of extra cash due to the CFA and new Media Deals...Right now it is about having one of the Best Stadiums in the ACC...Everyone is now investing in Football because it is truly the Sport that matters.

2. Outside of the Alabama, Ohio State and LSU most Schools now don't fill up their Stadiums on a weekly basis...it is the new reality of Sports...that why if you listen to what Jurich said it is going to be a "Smart Expansion"...hopefully focused on the Live Game Experience.

In 2010 when UofL was still in the Old BIG EAST/AAC they went from 42K to 55K...before the expansion most said it was foolish...since 2010 UofL has averaged over 50K a season and until this past year played a Mediocre Conference schedule...if they go to 62K to 63K that would put them right in line with the NC State/UNC/Virginia/Virginia Tech Stadium Current Capacity-(those schools averaged Last Year ranged from 39K to 61K)
 
this would of been awesome post jokers last year here but is wayyyy behind on the new reality. yes they are doing simply as a bragging rights issue but we all agree... even ul fans.... that outside of 2 game/year this stadium will never be full. our new buildings and facilities are top notch... better than ul's.

and yes ul will take on more character flawed individuals than we do but i see that coming back to bite them sooner than later. you can't bring in that many character issues without having issues. i want to win as bad as anyone but i wouldn't of wanted dyer, willie, fields, woodard, or council. i also wouldn't want our campus police to turn a blind eye to criminal activity. eventually something will give... it always does.

Excellent post, and while I agree with most of what jnewc2 said that time has passed. And two things happened to change it, the strike and then the unbelievable windfall that sports at UK has benefited from recently, not just the outrageous TV contracts but also the $30 million plus contract for ancillary rights or whatever-----most of it caused by football, but not UK football, mostly SEC football. UK got an unexpected $5,000,000 bonus from the TV contract about five years ago, also mostly due to football, but mitch still couldn't afford to improve the obsolete scoreboards and PA system that were supposed to be replaced two years before they were,while spending most of the money that football brought in on other sports. An $18,000,000 profit one of those years while NOTHING was being done to improve anything about football, the recruiting budget for football was LESS for 25 recruits than for the four or five in basketball (before the whole team started leaving for the NBA), unbelievable discrepancy there. But even more incredible was that the operating budget for 85 scholarship football players was about the same as for 13 basketball players.

Now we are rolling in the dough, hard to spend it all and we LUCKED OUT and got a perfect match with Stoops and his Ohio connections and everything is looking up, IMO, not a lot to complain about except all those lost years we should have been building our reputation.

But still, we still having football carrying the ball for most things, while UK could have easily financed the stadium expansion(sorry, shrinkage, with major renovations elsewhere) by itself before now the athletic department has the $110 million for the renovation------at the cost of raising about $230 million for that AND academic improvements, but then they will be responsible for paying back way more than the $110 million. And surprise, since UK has finally been doing something for football they have been able to raise about $45 million in DONATIONS for the new football facility (which basketball has had, in spades, for a long time now), funny thing how that works, when you invest in a great business you usually make more money, not lose your investment.

But, back on subject, UK now has or soon will have the smallest stadium in the SEC except for Vandy AND UL will soon have more capacity, I never doubted that jurich would take over a year or so to claim bragging rights when we gave him the opening.. But then mitch has always been all about wringing as much profit out of football as he can, those six or seven thousand cheering fans will be replaced by business tycoons in their soundproof palaces having cocktails and closing business deals, that's where the money is.

I don't think the real football fans will start missing those 6,000 seats until maybe September or so.
 
I don't know if they are going to expand capacity for the football stadium .... Perhaps they're just going to enhance the parking lots as that's where most Card fans can be found during the games??? have a few tattoo houses, a flat bill hat kiosk, brass poles sprinkled along Central Ave. Stuff like that.????

But for anyone who doesn't live in Louisville, let me say this.... What the University of Louisville has done with its campus and Athletic facilities since (like an above poster said) 1997 is remarkable when compared to UK... I'm not going to beat up on MB or make comment on how UofL came by all the money. Comment has been and is ongoing... Louisville is a dirty little town but UofL has prospered... Nice facilities and some might argue better teams than UK all around the sports spectrum... All this competition to our State, Flagship, Land Grant, University........ Your nose is telling you something ain't right but you just can't quite figure out where the small is coming from....
 
The attendance for the NC ST UL game was 50500.

There is no argument to expand PJCS...if you have to hope to rely on other schools fans to fill it, you're doing it wrong.

There would be no reason for CWS to expand either...

I hope PJCS does expand though, because images of empty seats are fun fuel.

If the stadium is expanded, it will be for the same reason it was before, for increased revenue. The large bulk of that revenue is not coming from the few thousand additional seats, but from suite sales & premium seating, which comes predominantly from corporate customers. That's what makes it feasible, and doesn't require those seats to always be full. On huge games that attract community-wide interest & a sizable visitor section, they will fill. In November games and October games vs non-popular opponents, they won't.

Corporations can also be sold blocks of seats, as part of their marketing packages. They, in turn, can give (or sell for a cheap price) to their employees & families, while the execs use the suites for business development purposes with clientele. That's what happens when people who work for UPS, Kindred, Nortons, Humana, etc. Remember the $10 tics Kroger used to peddle that UK fans always had fun with? Kroger supplemented those tics as a Marketing Partner, acquiring rights to sell them to attract more customers in their stores. In turn, they received other advertising ops as well for their investment. Jurich generates tons of revenue from the corporate community in a lot of different ways, and football & basketball games often become giant infomercials during timeouts. Fans hate it. But that money helps build facilities and pay top-shelf coaches for all his programs. So we live with it.

UL invested a nice sum of $$ for a detailed Feasibility Study on Stadium Expansion. Its not going to happen unless it can generate more revenue, comfortably manage any new debt, and help to continue to grow its fan base. Hate on the guy all you want, make fun of him at every turn, but the guy has totally rebuilt the entire athletic infrastructure on Belknap Campus over the last 20 years, and is in the midst of building a national athletic powerhouse program. Many people across the country feel he's already succeeded at doing just that. Baseball, Basketball, & Mens Soccer are already there, with Women's Basketball & Football just behind, and several other sports that have grown from nothing to where they're consistently making annual post-season appearances, and showing up in top 25 rankings.

Build it and they'll come (with some enticement & aggressive sales strategies). It's been his mantra the last 20 years, and he's done it well in every sport, consistently going "beyond" what most feel is practical at first look.
 
Corporations can also be sold blocks of seats, as part of their marketing packages. They, in turn, can give (or sell for a cheap price) to their employees & families, while the execs use the suites for business development purposes with clientele. That's what happens when people who work for UPS, Kindred, Nortons, Humana, etc. Remember the $10 tics Kroger used to peddle that UK fans always had fun with? Kroger supplemented those tics as a Marketing Partner, acquiring rights to sell them to attract more customers in their stores. In turn, they received other advertising ops as well for their investment. Jurich generates tons of revenue from the corporate community in a lot of different ways, and football & basketball games often become giant infomercials during timeouts. Fans hate it. But that money helps build facilities and pay top-shelf coaches for all his programs. So we live with it.

What many fail to realize is that many of the "empty" seats that are seen on TV are already bought and paid for to the university. Whether those corporate blocks are filled by the companies that pay for them or not, UofL has already received their compensation for them. So, each time someone says "I can get UofL tickets on the cheap" at work, realize those tickets sales have already provided funding for UofL
 
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